Scituate field hockey wins own tourney

Field hockey teams typically have to wait until late November to gain tournament experience, but Scituate and Cohasset already have some under their belts.

Nikki Begnal and Zoe Ryan each scored twice Monday as Scituate defeated Cohasset, 4-1, to capture its own season-kickoff tournament for the third consecutive year.

Tom Hinkley

Field hockey teams typically have to wait until late November to gain tournament experience, but Scituate and Cohasset already have some under their belts.

Nikki Begnal and Zoe Ryan each scored twice Monday as Scituate defeated Cohasset, 4-1, to capture its own season-kickoff tournament for the third consecutive year. The 2-0 start and tournament crown is a welcomed boost to a program seeking to bounce back after a first-round loss in last year’s Division 2 South Sectional tournament.

“It was great to come out this way,” said Scituate coach Amanda Bird, whose team advanced to the tournament final by beating Martha’s Vineyard in a stroke-off Sunday after the score was tied, 1-1, after regulation. “We had a tough loss to end last season, but it’s behind us. We have a new team. We lost 12 seniors last year, so there is a lot of teamwork going on this year.”

While Begnal and Ryan were the only two to put a shot past Cohasset goalkeeper Emily Curran, Scituate was hardly a two-person show.

The defense in front of Meg Fountaine was a stone wall in the first half, and didn’t allow a single scoring threat until about five minutes into the second half.

“There’s 11 players out there on the field and it shows,” said Bird, whose Sailors were 15-4-2 last season. “There’s tons of communication going on and our links are great between our defense and our forwards. They’re doing a really good job so far.”

Begnal and Ryan will be scoring goals alongside Sarah Hoffman, who returns after leading the Sailors with 31 points (28 goals, 3 assists) a season ago.

“We hope to see a lot of teamwork because that’s what it’s going to take,” Bird said. “We have a lot of new players, I think we only have nine returning varsity players, so there is going to have to be a lot of team-bonding that has to take place. But so far, so good.”

While Cohasset may have wound up on the losing end of the tournament final, coach Laura Giuliano believes her team will also reap the benefits of quality competition this early in the season.

“This is a great opportunity to play a really strong team and see where we are,” said Giuliano. “We held our own. Our girls played awesome, so I’m really excited about the season having played this game.”

Cohasset spent most of the afternoon trying to clear the ball out of its own end, and goalie Caroline Evans turned away 15 of 19 shots. The only goal for Cohasset (1-1) was scored by Christina Tedeschi, who managed to poke one home out of a crowd in front of the cage.

Cohasset’s offense had been in full swing in Sunday’s 4-0 first-round win over Marshfield, but it was stymied by a very good Scituate team.

“It’s only our second game of the season and we have a lot of new pieces,” Giuliano said. “We have a lot of talented freshman and sophomores that are playing a lot, and there’s a learning curve there.”

While both coaches undoubtedly saw some things they liked and some things they didn’t like, they were both pleased with the chance to play in a tournament like this so early in the season.

“It’s very beneficial,” Bird said. “For the girls to come get it out this early in the season, it’s just going to come together that much better in the middle of the season and then hopefully at the end of the season as well.”